Unraveling the fabric of space-time with Dr. Ian O'Neill

Category Archives: Astroengine Live!

Sorry everybody, but if you’re listening in to Astroengine Live for your weekly space news updates, you’ll notice a recording is currently being re-broadcast on WPRT Radio (thank you Jack!). Due to unforeseen circumstances I am currently stuck in Palm Desert and can’t return to LA in time for the show. Very frustrating, as I had a lot of Christmas goodies for you… however, they can wait until next week!

I will keep you posted about what I have planned for next week in the next couple of days. For now, check out the Astroengine Live pages, and remember, if you have any topics you want to be discussed on the show, please drop a message to astro@wprtradio.com.

Sorry for the break in service, but I’ll be back next week… For now, have a wonderful Christmas with your families and stay warm!

I went into today’s show a little disorganized after tending to a flood in the garage. I was a little rushed to prepare all my notes, so I thought I’d do a more informal show, running through the Carnival of Space, and ending up discussing the recent Obama-NASA funding debate. Alas, things got a little worse than just wet socks. The microphone died in the first 15 seconds of the show and then my Internet connection went completely AWOL, ripping Astroengine Live from the airwaves (I was even broadcasting across Central Texas via KVMP Radio, 99.9FM!). According to my cable company, due to the adverse weather (i.e. rain. Yes, rain. Not snow, blizzards or electrical storms. Rain), cable was “patchy” in some regions.

So, no more live radio shows in the rain, then. Fortunately this is California where rain is a fleeting feature.

Anyhow, I am currently editing the show that did record my end to remove the ominous silent patch. Alas I wasn’t able to get to the meat of my discussion, and fell back on my backup instead. Oh well, more to discuss next week. Regardless of the technical issues, I hope you enjoyed this week’s show, next week will be far more polished. Thanks for tuning in!

Sorry for the late post on today’s Astroengine Live, running woefully behind schedule. However, the show will be going live at 4pm PST/7pm EST (that’s about 2 hours from when I post this). I have some assorted news from the week’s goings on in space, so be sure to tune in. However, if you miss the live broadcast, you can catch up with all the archives soon after I’m off air, so be sure to keep an eye on the nifty radio player on the Astroengine Live pages. A special thanks goes to John Greenewald at Black Vault Radio for hosting my shows and making my archives a reality!

There isn’t a specific theme for today’s show, but no doubt I’ll be having a rant about NASA funding, so I’ll be discussing the recent articles I’ve written on the subject. There is actually a live teleconference today at 4pm EST at NASA HQ discussing the progress of Constellation, so I’ll try to bring you updates from that if and when I get them… why do I get the feeling it’s not going to be pretty…?

Anyhow, I’ll give a rundown of all the space news, plus the Carnival of Space. I’ll also be giving a rundown of the activities of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) who are doing an astounding job keeping their eyes on those variable stars. I hope to do an interview with Mike Simonsen who has been a member of the AAVSO for many years in the future to get an idea about what his job entails…

Get Involved!

Have any articles or stories you want to contribute? Have an opinion on anything in the world of space? Email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I’ll be sure to give it a mention. Eventually, I hope to have telephone call-ins, but for now, email will do.

It’s been a fun few days for writing, and I’ll be sharing the best bits of space news with you in today’s Astroengine Live! This week we’ll hopefully have a few more listeners coming over from Facebook (the Astroengine Live group has swelled to a membership of 60, which is very cool). There will be a whole host of subjects, including your weekly Carnival of Space update (coming at you this week from Dave Mosher at Space Disco), so make sure you listen in. There will also be a special report about the results from a recent study into the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy… so I’ll hand over to Muse for one of my all time favourite tunes: Supermassive Black Hole!

Get Involved!

Have any articles or stories you want to contribute? Have an opinion on anything in the world of space? Email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I’ll be sure to give it a mention. Eventually, I hope to have telephone call-ins, but for now, email will do.

In an attempt to hard-wire Astroengine.com and Astroengine Live! to the complex web of social websites out there, I’ve created an Astroengine Live! Facebook group. Although Facebook seems to eat time, I wanted to give my little radio show a boost in popularity. As I have so many friends on the social site, it seemed logical. However, a big thanks goes to my good friend Avi for showing me the powers of social websites, I don’t think I would have pushed into the world of Twitter, Digg or Stumble Upon if it wasn’t for his motivation.

I’ve always seen social networking/bookmarking sites as “timewasters”, but when used correctly, you can gather information in a very efficient way. In turn, you promote yourself, simply by socialising. A great tool.

So, be sure to visit my Facebook group for Astroengine Live, and I’ll be sure to maintain it to bring you all the show news and updates. The group will also give you an additional opportunity to provide feedback (i.e. if you find me boring one Wednesday evening, you can give me a good telling off…)

Note: Have a look to the right of this post, and you’ll see a few social websites I use most frequently. Be sure to check me out and give me a tweet, shout, email, message, text, thumbs up or a vote when ever you like;-)

Today’s Astroengine Live was going to be devoted to a discussion about the search for extraterrestrial life in the Universe, but the alien amoeba will have to make room for some news from the entire space blogosphere in this week’s Carnival of Space, plus a bonus look into the world of space tourism. Yesterday (Tuesday), I had the superb opportunity to attend XCOR’s press conference in Beverly Hills where a new partner was announced, my colleague Angela and I had a chat to a Shuttle astronaut and we found out a little more about the future of “cheap” (if you have $95,000 in your piggy bank that is) access to space.

So, tune in to WPRT Radio at 4pm PST to get your weekly dose of Astroengine Live!

Get Involved!

Is the search for extraterrestrials really worth it? How would mankind benefit if aliens were discovered? Have an opinion? Email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I’ll be sure to give you mention. Eventually, I hope to have telephone call-ins, but for now, email will do. For your reference, check out my article: The Search For Life, What’s the Point?. Feel free to comment on any points raised…

Woops, it looks like I’ve been quoting the incorrect email address for my Astroengine Live radio show. Disregard the contact email address I have been quoting and update your address books with astro@wprtradio.com.

So, huge apologies for that, if you have sent any tips/research/articles/questions to any other email address apart from astro@wprtradio.com, I probably haven’t read it. So please re-send it to this correct address.

Remember, my live show will commence on Wednesday at 7pm EST (4pm PST) for it’s third episode! I will post an update later in the day about the content of the show.

If you have anything you want me to read/investigate/shout out on air, feel free to email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I will be sure to give you a mention.

Thanks and sorry again for the wrong address–it seems the tech gremlin that hit my laptop on my first show has crept into my brain too, hence the correction!